My cat has been throwing up a ridiculous amount of hairballs lately. He has always had them and we use hairball control food, but they seem to be getting worse. (He's about 8 yrs old). I have tried supplements in the past but never found one that worked or that he would actually eat. Any suggestions?
Brushing often is the only way to help reduce it. Consult a groomer to find the right tools, as the right tools make a huge difference.
Brush your cat. They usually love it. The more hair you get off him that way, the less he can lick off while grooming.
Also, get a tube of the molasses flavored hair ball remedy and let him lick it off your finger or the end of the tube. It helps with the hairballs going out the other end as opposed to being thrown back up.
We used that malt flavored hairball stuff, and after trying the suggestion of putting it on the foot, one day I just tried to let her eat it out of the tube. She loved it!
That was for random hairballs though. If your cat is having a lot of them, take him to the vet...there may be more going on, or it may just be a cat that throws up - been there, done that.
Have your tried Petromil?
Blessings....
get a deshedding comb or brush and brush him everyday. the less hair he's licking up the less he will have to spit up, and take him to the vet, there might be something else going on.
I like the suggestions about brushing him. Also, he might have favorite places where he likes to sit/lay that have accumulated hair. If so, it might help to vacuum up those spots more often.
There is a hairball medicine that comes in a tube that looks like toothpaste and it's a paste stuff you put on their paw. They will lick this off and that helps with their hairballs. Gross stuff those hairballs for sure.
Our cat is indoor and has had the same problems. He is a large tabby (20+ lbs) and I have atributed his increase to change in weather to warmer and changed his food. After this week of lots of gross hairballs, went and found the catfood used before (they were out and bought diff last week). Never again will go to another store to find.
I have found this great cleaner that I use to clean my carpet (which is light tan colored). It is called Sol-u-Mel by Melaleuca. It has been the best to take out the stains.
Vasoline works great! Put a pea size amount on the tip of your cat's nose. He will lick it off because they can't stand things on their nose. It works very well. And it's cheaper than hairball medicine. I used to have to do it every couple of days then eventually, I got it down to once a month. I've been doing this for 9 years now and it works fantastic!
Definitely agree with those who said to brush your cat! Every time I brush my cat, I just get scads and scads of hair. It's incredible! Especially as the weather warms up and he loses his winter's coat, you'll need to do this.
laxatone. talk to his vet its an rx
Our cat is the same way! She's almost 9 and started getting them a lot more when she was ~5 or 6. We tried all the gels and foods, with no luck! So, I put her on a diet (she was up to 25 pounds). That helped. Then, she also started having bloody stool and continuous hairballs/vomiting. After talking to a couple of vets, they suggested that we work our way "up" the cat food chain. Even if you've fed your cat the same brand & flavor of food for years (as we had), sometimes the company will change ingredients which can upset the digestive system. So, we went through many brands and are up to the IAMS pink bag (digestive, indoor, whatever). It's quite a bit pricier than the other brands, but it has done wonders! Also, when you start making changes, you have to be consistent (hairball gel or new food) for at least 2 weeks to see a difference. Now, if I can't find the pink bag and I buy something else, I get the smallest package possible because I know that it will get us back to hairball-world.
Good luck!
My cats love this stuff and it does help tremendously with the hairballs:
http://www.amazon.com/Hartz-Advanced-Hairball-Remedy-Salm...
My cat threw up hairballs all the time - about every day. She was also losing weight. Turned out to be hyperthyroid which usually hits around 10 years or so, I think. Once her hyperthyroid was controlled with medication, the hairballs stopped immediately. Just a thought.
One of our four cats does the same thing. The only time it stopped was when I was pregnant and eating a ton of yogurt. None of the other cats liked it so i let her like the container clean. No more hacking, gagging etc. No idea why it worked, but when I stopped eating as much yogurt here came the hairballs again! Also Kids and Pets brand carpet cleaner takes out the stain and the smell.
Good luck.
Beth
